New putter gives Ogilvy Masters edge

GEOFF OGILVY left Victoria last Thursday night frustrated from a bad day on the greens and with a bent putter to show for it.

But he put his angst away quickly and grabbed a new mallet-style putter he had been fiddling with for a few months. The Victorian has used the same traditional blade putter for more than a decade; now he had no choice but to put the chunky new weapon into his bag in a tournament.

The results have been stunning. After a 66 on Friday that put him into contention, the 34-year-old Ogilvy soared to an equal course record 63 yesterday to take a stranglehold on the Australian Masters.

Ogilvy could have broken 60, such was the purity of his wedge game and the heat of his new putter. He started eagle-birdie-birdie and went through the front nine in 29 shots. Once he had chipped in from 25 metres at the par-four 12th, he was eight-under for the day. A bogey at the par-three 16th, where he went through the green, killed his momentum. Astonishingly, he would have three bogeys for a day with such a low score, nine birdies and an eagle.